Australian coaches prepare for Pakistan tour

Sydney, Feb 18 (IANS) With Cricket Australia (CA) technically not in a position to abandon the tour of Pakistan before its security team visits the country, coach Tim Nielsen and his assistants are preparing for the series, Australian media reported Monday. The fate of Australia’s first trip to the strife-torn South Asian country since 1998 rests largely on security scene during and after Monday’s general elections.

The tour looked to be in doubt of late after CA chairman Creagh O’Connor raised security concerns in a letter to the Pakistani Cricket Board (PCB).

Nielsen said he had little option but to prepare for the trip, and the national selectors will be doing the same.

“We haven’t heard anything different, all we’re hearing is speculation,” he was quoted as saying in The Daily Telegraph.

“Until CA can send a delegation over there to assess how the security is going, there’s a whole lot of information that needs to come in before we can make an informed decision.

“Until they say it’s off we have to plan as though it’s on, whether it’s in Pakistan, somewhere else and whatever,” he said.

According to The Daily Telegraph, CA general manager of public affairs Peter Young said that the security delegation to Pakistan, likely to include CA cricket operations manager Michael Brown, Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Paul Marsh and security consultants, had yet to book flights.

“At the moment everybody wants to wait until after the election to see what the situation is like and then we will be able to make a call,” Young said